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Sid Lapidus ’59 has donated to Princeton 157 rare books, pamphlets, and prints that are displayed in a new exhibition in the main gallery of Firestone Library. The exhibition, entitled “Liberty & the American Revolution: Selections from the Collection of Sid Lapidus ’59,” opened May 28 — just in time for the 50th reunion of Lapidus’ class.

The items span more than 150 years of American and British history, from the 17th century to the early 19th century, and are arranged thematically into four groups. “Revolutionary Origins” features documents relating to political theory and ideology, beginning with a 1651 edition of Thomas Hobbes’ Leviathan. “The American Crisis” displays a wide array of views on the 18th century controversy over taxation and the push for independence in the colonies.

Russian work premieres with a Princeton spin

Peter Schram ’09 leaps over, from left, Kelsey Berry ’10, Jennie Scholick ’09, and Elizabeth Schwall ’09 in a rehearsal for Music for Athletes. (Photo by Brian Wilson, Princeton University Office of Communications)

“Greetings, highest President Tilghman! And three cheers for Old Nassau!”

These are the cries that opened the world premiere of Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev’s Music for Athletes in Richardson Auditorium July 17. The piece, which Princeton music professor Simon Morrison *97 uncovered in 2006 at the Russian State Archive of Literature and Art in Moscow, was performed as part of the sixth annual Golandsky Institute International Piano Festival.

Russian-born pianist Ilya Itin played the music, while a Princeton undergraduate and three alumni — Kelsey Berry ’10, Peter Schram ’09, Elizabeth Schwall ’09, and Jennie Scholick ’09 — danced to Scholick’s original choreography.

The “greetings” to Tilghman are representative of Scholick’s concept for the piece. Playing on the Kremlin’s original intention of glorifying Soviet athletic prowess through the performance, her modern adaptation glorifies Princeton instead.

Princeton Summer Theater season continues with The Glass Menagerie

For Shawn Fennell ’10, Douglas Lavanture ’09, and the handful of other students and recent graduates who run Princeton Summer Theater (PST), July has meant 14-hour days in the cozy confines of Murray Dodge Hall and a schedule filled with rehearsals, set construction, and a range of odd jobs, from manning the ticket counter to designing playbills.

Each day may be tiring, says Fennell, the company’s artistic director, but with four plays in a span of nine weeks, the performers “never get tired” of the material. In mid-June, on the day PST debuted the musical Urinetown, the Musical, cast members also had their first read-through of the Tennessee Williams play The Glass Menagerie, which will begin its two-weekend run July 9.

Thesis tackles gender bias in American theater

Do female playwrights have more difficulty getting their work produced, compared to their male counterparts? Economics student Emily Glassberg Sands ’09 took on this controversial and complex question in her senior thesis and revealed some surprising results.

Sands used an experimental survey to see if a script was better received when its author was a man. She sent identical scripts, written by prominent female playwrights, to artistic directors and theater managers, and labeled the works with different pen names -- Mary Walker vs. Michael Walker, for instance. Each recipient was asked to rate the script that he or she received.

Male playwrights received more favorable reviews, and Sands' data showed that women reviewers were responsible for the bias against women. Specifically, women reading plays by women assigned lower ratings on questions about whether the characters were likable and how likely it would be that the playwright would win a prize.

"It's not clear that it's pure, taste-based gender discrimination by the women," Sands explained in an interview with PAW. "It seems to be that the women have a heightened awareness of the barriers [female playwrights] face."

The relatively few women who are artistic directors and theater managers, Sands said, "are definitely the outsiders, and as outsiders, they are probably trying to make the safe bet. In general, the safe bet is usually a work by a man because historically, it's been more widely accepted in the theater community. ... Once I looked more into the literature, I realized that [the apparent bias is] not quite as much of an anomaly as it sounds."

Sands presented her findings to about 200 theater practitioners and industry experts in New York City June 22. Her work also received attention from media outlets, including The New York Times, National Public Radio, and Bloomberg.

Michelle Obama ’85 talks about Sonia Sotomayor ’76

First Lady Michelle Obama ’85 delivered the commencement address at the Washington Math and Science Tech Public Charter High School June 3. Her remarks to the graduates included memories of her time at Princeton and a few comments about fellow Princeton alumna Sonia Sotomayor ’76, President Barack Obama’s nominee for the Supreme Court. An excerpt from the speech, released by the Office of the First Lady, is included below.

First Lady Michelle Obama ’85 at the Washington Math and Science Tech Public Charter High School

… [W]hen I look out at you all, I get tears in my eyes because I think about sitting in your seats just a few years ago in my cap and gown. Whitney Young was a magnet public school, so I was a public school graduate, as well. And I was excited like you were because I had gotten into Princeton University. I was excited! I was fired up. I didn’t get the kind of money you all got — but I was excited.

But I was also worried. I was worried about whether or not I was ready, whether or not I would fit in. And I have realized since then that I probably wasn’t alone in my fears, in my worries.

And then I read this story of Judge Sonia Sotomayor. I don’t know if you know about this phenomenal woman, but the President — she’s the President’s nominee for the Supreme Court — and she’s the first Hispanic woman to be considered for the position. The first.

And she went to Princeton. And in this story she said that when she arrived at Princeton as a freshman — and this was nine years before I would even think about going — she said when she stepped on that campus, she said — and this is a quote — she said she felt like “a visitor landing in an alien country.” And she said she never raised her hand her first year because — and this is a quote — she “was too embarrassed and too intimidated to ask questions.”

Quotes from the Class Day and Commencement speakers

“We can finally burn the bumper sticker that says: ‘He who dies with the most toys wins.’ The truth is closer to the old Italian proverb that says: ‘At the end of the game, the king and the pawn go back in the same box.’ What really matters in the end is how you’ve played that game of life — that you’ve lived it with honor, integrity, and character, old-fashioned qualities that never go out of style whether you’re a fan of Ella Fitzgerald or Lady Gaga.”

— Katie Couric, CBS Evening News anchor and Class Day speaker

“One of the great supporters of international students at Princeton, Shelby M.C. Davis [’58], likes to say that life is lived in thirds: learn, earn, and return. I agree with Mr. Davis, but I hope, I hope that the thirds of your life are not mutually exclusive. … [L]earning is a lifelong pursuit, an endeavor that will guide us as we earn, in all respects, and give back to our broader society and to Old Nassau.”

— Holger Staude ’09, valedictorian

Toy gun causes campus lockdown

An unidentified man was spotted with what appeared to be a handgun near Dod Hall Wednesday morning, June 3, causing a brief lockdown of the Princeton campus. The situation was resolved within an hour after an investigation found that the gun was actually a toy, according to the University’s Office of Communications.

Public Safety received its first report of a gun on campus at 10:36 a.m. At approximately 10:50 a.m., staff, faculty, and students began receiving messages from the University’s automated emergency alert system. “There is a gunman on Princeton’s campus,” the message said. “This is a real emergency. Public Safety will issue more instructions as information becomes available.” The location of the incident was revealed in a message on the homepage of the University Web site.

Four juveniles who are not Princeton students were taken into custody near campus, according to police. “The suspected handgun was a dark green plastic toy that could be confused with an actual weapon,” the Office of Communications reported. “The toy was retrieved near the Wawa on University Place.”

At 11:34 a.m., the University issued an all-clear message, telling people to “resume normal activities.” “Everything has been resolved,” University spokeswoman Emily Aronson told the Star-Ledger. “It was a toy gun.”

A similar incident caused a lockdown at Princeton March 6. Borough police said that an undergraduate ran through campus carrying an imitation assault rifle, sparking calls to Public Safety. The University sent out an alert at 12:42 the next morning, urging students to remain inside and to lock all windows and doors. According to The Daily Princetonian, the student received the alert and called Public Safety to say that he thought he might have caused the incident; he was taken into custody and later released. At 1:24 a.m., Public Safety notified students that there was no threat.

Couric addresses the Class of 2009

CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric delivered the Class Day address at Princeton June 1, becoming the first woman to headline the event since seniors began inviting outside speakers in 2001.

Couric’s lively and at times irreverent speech was peppered with Princeton slang and pop-culture references. Of her morning routine, she said, “I was pregaming in the slums when there was a noise complaint. P-Safe busted me and took my prox. Luckily, though — very relieved — I wasn’t McCoshed. I headed to the Street where I tried to complete a Prospect 10, but I was sidetracked playing robo at T.I. Very savage.” (After the speech, she confessed that two students, Jonathan Shifke ’10 and Caroline Shifke ’12, had provided a primer on campus life.)

Coming to speak at Princeton was a no-brainer, Couric said: “I can see New Jersey from my house.” But she was a bit miffed to find out that before inviting a woman to speak at Class Day, earlier classes had selected a fake newsman (Stephen Colbert in 2008) and a fake White House adviser (West Wing star Bradley Whitford in 2007).

Not all of Couric’s jokes were hits, but the veteran television journalist seemed unfazed. When a line about Eliot Spitzer ’81 drew more groans than laughs, she quipped, “They told me I could be racy here — work with me, people!”

Couric completed her address with some sober advice for the Class of 2009, which starts life after college in a less-than-hospitable job market. “Maybe the silver lining of these tough economic times is that it’s a wake-up call that can help us recalibrate our values,” she said. “What really matters in the end is how you played that game of life, that you’ve lived it with honor, integrity, and character — old-fashioned qualities that never go out of style.”

Couric called on the graduates to work hard in their chosen professions, serve their communities, thank their parents, and take chances. “Make some noise, be a rabble-rouser,” she said. “We’ve seen such extraordinary change in this country in the last 10 years. Now it’s your responsibility to build on that change.”

Forecasting the P-rade

Will it rain at Reunions? Will a thunderstorm wash out Commencement?

According to Weather.com, isolated thunderstorms on Friday will give way to warm, sunny weather for the rest of Reunions and for the Class of 2009’s big day June 2. But some seniors question that forecast.

“It’s always sunny for Lawnparties and rains during Reunions,” said Jackie Temkin ‘09, quoting a popular belief among students.

Rain during Lawnparties this year debunked the first part of that axiom. And even when sprinkles do come to Reunions, Princeton undergraduates and alumni seem to be able to get the most out of the weekend.

Since the P-rade started in the 1890s, it has only been canceled once for inclement weather — a nor’easter in 1953. A review of PAW stories from the last 30 years found that it has been sunny at all but seven P-rades. Even at those seven, in most cases the heaviest rains held off until the seniors finished their march.

PAW’s Virtual Arch Sing

In advance of Reunions, PAW asked Princeton a cappella groups to submit some of their favorite video and audio clips. Watch the two YouTube playlists below (or click the individual links) to hear a preview of the tunes that may be resonating from campus archways at the end of May.

Part 1:

1. Shere Khan - “1234”

2. Katzenjammers - “Do the Walls Come Down”

3. Nassoons - “Somewhere Over the Rainbow”

4. Tigertones - “Runaround Sue”

5. Tigerlilies - “Mean to Me”

Part 2:

1. Tigressions - “Pocketful of Sunshine”

2. Footnotes - “Loving Feeling”

3. Roaring 20 - “Kryptonite”

4. The Wildcats, Tigerlilies, and Tigressions - “Old Nassau”

Encore

Some groups submitted video and audio in other formats and were not able to be included on the YouTube playlists, but you can click these links to get the full Princeton a cappella experience:

1. Old NasSoul - “In the Still of the Night”

2. Kindred Spirit - “A Mighty Fortress” (Facebook video, registration required)

3. Koleinu - “Etz Chaim”

Jonathan Schwartz ’10 plays Matt in the off-Broadway revival of The Fantasticks. (Photo by Ellis Gaskell)

Schwartz ’10 makes his New York acting debut

Six days a week, Jonathan Schwartz ’10 takes a New Jersey Transit train into Manhattan to work. The job involves some singing and dancing and being ready for the unexpected, like trying to belt out his lines in front of 200 people with confetti stuck in his mouth.

That’s all in a day’s work for Schwartz, who recently made his New York acting debut as the male lead in the off-Broadway production of The Fantasticks (a role that includes one scene in which confetti is sprinkled over the actor’s head). Schwartz, a sociology major, has been doing eight performances a week since March 30 while carrying a full course load.

The Fantasticks was the longest-running musical in the world, opening in 1960 and playing more than 17,000 shows before closing in 2002. The show’s revival at the Snapple Theater Center in Times Square opened in June 2008. The story is a romantic comedy about a boy (Matt, Schwartz’s role) and a girl (Luisa) who fall in and out of love at the hands of their meddling fathers.

Schwartz, a Cranford, N.J., native, has been acting since he landed a part in the chorus for a community theater production of Oliver at age 4. “I learned my right from my left in that show because I had to wave,” he says. Since then, he has performed in some 30 musicals and plays, starring as Buddy Holly in The Buddy Holly Story and Joseph in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. On campus he’s been involved in the Princeton University Players, Triangle Club, and the Nassoons.

When Schwartz was offered the part of Matt during midterms, he considered taking time off from school, but ultimately decided to push on. He loads up on classes during Tuesday, the theater’s “dark” day, and uses his commuting time to do homework. Two weeks ago he handed in his junior paper. “I’m not shooting for A’s,” he says, “but I’m doing the best I can.” By Katherine Federici Greenwood

Last-chance lessons

Classes have ended for the semester, but seniors are still headed to lecture. The Last Lecture Series, which runs from April 27 to May 8, gives the Class of 2009 an opportunity to hear some of Princeton’s best lecturers speak about their fields of expertise. Seniors crowd into McCosh 10 on Monday and Wednesday nights to soak up these last tidbits of knowledge before heading out into the real world in June.

Robert George, the McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence and a constitutional law expert, spoke to the group April 27 on the topic of “Natural Law, God, and Human Rights.” George outlined his view on the principles of justice and human rights from his viewpoint as a natural law theorist.

In his primer on natural law theory, George argued that humans recognize the “intrinsic value” of social relationships, and thereby set the basis for human-rights law. “Natural law theorists do not deny that God can reveal moral truths, but many moral truths can be grasped by ethical reflection even without revelation,” George said. According to this theory, people can reach consensus on human-rights law without the confirmation of an existence of a higher being.

John Fleming *63, the Louis W. Fairchild ’24 Professor of English and Comparative Literature emeritus, tackled the issue of “What Are the Humanities?” April 29. Identifying the humanities as the “artifacts of human intellection,” Fleming stressed the importance of understanding the cultural context when reading literature.

In speaking about Shakespeare and Chaucer, Fleming said that “we are in that string of humanity, but there’s no way that we’re going to become 14th-century people. … The challenge of the humanities is to try and see them against the profile of the stark differentiation that separates us.”

Lectures continue this week with Professor Ed Felten discussing digital media and Professor Eric Wieschaus speaking about cell embryos. By Sarah Harrison ’09

Arts briefs: Romeo & Juliet at Lincoln Center; Alumna’s documentary on PBS

From May 14-17, the Mark Morris Dance Group will perform “Romeo & Juliet, On Motifs of Shakespeare” at Lincoln Center’s Rose Theater in New York. The ballet is set to the original score composed by Sergei Prokofiev, recently rediscovered by Princeton professor and musicologist Simon Morrison *97. Morrison will speak about the production May 14 at a special pre-performance event for New York City alumni.

Deborah Fryer *93’s award-winning documentary film Shaken: Journey Into the Mind of a Parkinson’s Patient will air on several PBS affiliates in May.

Baseball stands three wins away from division title

The Princeton baseball team has four scheduled games against Cornell this week, but head coach Scott Bradley sees the matchup as a best-of-five series: With the Tigers and Big Red tied atop the Ivy League’s Gehrig Division, the first team to win three games will clinch the title and earn a spot in the Ivy League Championship Series.

“You want to put yourselves in position to play important games,” Bradley said earlier this week. “Right now, it’s here in front of us.”

While three wins against Cornell would guarantee a title for the Tigers, Columbia does have a chance to force a three-way tie for the division title if Princeton and Cornell split their games. The Lions would need to sweep their four-game set against Penn.

For more than a decade, Princeton has been an Ivy powerhouse, winning five league titles in Bradley’s previous 11 seasons, but the Tigers stumbled at the start of the year, losing six of eight games against teams in the Ivy Rolfe Division (Brown, Yale, Dartmouth, and Harvard). In the last two weekends, Princeton’s bats came alive against Columbia and Penn, and the Tigers pulled even with Cornell at 8-8 in Ivy play.

Dan DeGeorge ’09 (.368 batting average, 12 doubles) has been Princeton’s most consistent hitter, and Greg Van Horn ’11 and Jon Broscious ’10 have made key contributions in the last two weeks as well. On the mound, Brad Gemberling ’09 (5-1, 59 strikeouts) has anchored the league’s top pitching staff. Gemberling, DeGeorge, pitcher David Hale ’10, and catcher Jack Murphy ’10 have attracted attention from pro scouts, Bradley said, and may be selected in the Major League Baseball first-year player draft in June.

Game time: Princeton hosts a doubleheader against Cornell April 24, beginning at noon, and travels to Ithaca for two more games April 26.

Softball knocked out of Ivy race

Princeton softball has won more Ivy titles (17) than the rest of the league combined, but this year, the defending-champion Tigers will not repeat. Even with four games remaining against division-leader Cornell, Princeton (8-8) won’t be able to catch the Big Red (13-3).

That means Princeton fans only have a few more chances to see Tiger star Kathryn Welch ’09 in action. Welch, a four-year starter, ranks second on the program’s career lists for doubles and home runs and third in runs batted in. Her .353 career batting average also is among the program’s top five, and she has a chance to hit over .400 for the first time this season (through April 19, she was hitting .402 for the year).

Game time: Seniors Kathryn Welch, Erin Miller, and Brianna Moreno will play their final home games April 24 when Princeton hosts a doubleheader against Cornell, beginning at 12:30 p.m.

An insider’s view of Obama’s new-media campaign

One out of every six people who voted for President Barack Obama opted to help with the campaign, said Joe Rospars, the campaign’s new-media director, in an April 16 speech titled “Making Change Happen: Lessons from the Obama Campaign.” Rospars, a founding partner at Blue State Digital, explained how the campaign used technology to help “lower the barrier to entry” for supporters to participate in the campaign.

The Obama campaign’s new-media program used text messaging, blogs, YouTube videos, and e-mail to encourage supporters to organize themselves into smaller regional and common-interest groups. Rospars and his team posted more than 2,000 campaign videos on YouTube, broadcasting everything from informal chats with Obama’s campaign manager, David Plouffe, to instructions on how to participate in the Iowa caucus. Led by documentary filmmakers and journalists, Obama’s new-media team focused on “both the presentation and weaving together the story of our supporters,” Rospars said.

The plan proved successful — more than 45,000 grassroots volunteer groups helped bring voters to the polls for Obama. Connected to campaign headquarters through e-mails and text messages, these volunteers “knocked on millions of doors and made millions of phone calls,” Rospars said. Obama’s staff gave volunteers the necessary training and resources, he said, and allowed them to work as if they were staff members.

Though the use of new media brought Obama closer to his supporters, don’t be fooled into thinking that he is just an e-mail or text message away. “I hope that no one felt like it was actually Barack who was responding to your friend request on MySpace. If so, I hope that you would have been less likely to vote for him,” Rospars joked.

The new-media team’s job, Rospars said, was “to generate an emotional response and to turn it into concrete outcomes.” The result on Nov. 4, 2008, solidified new media’s position on the political stage. By Sarah Harrison ’09